New leather supplier meets all of Polestar’s requirements
Gothenburg-based electric vehicle manufacturer Polestar, which markets its standard vehicle interior choice as vegan, still offers customers the option of having leather instead.
What’s more, the Geely Holdings-Volvo joint-venture start-up has shown its appreciation of the value that leather can add to automotive companies’ offerings by charging customers more for it.
Its first model, Polestar 1, went into production in 2019, with the Polestar 2 following in 2020. In its early communications about these cars, it made a series of comments that did little to boost the confidence of automotive leather suppliers.
“We challenge the old notions of what premium means in the car industry,” said head of design, Maximilian Missoni, at the end of 2020. “In Polestar 2 you’ll find vegan WeaveTech upholstery and reconstructed wood instead of leather and chrome.”
However, on April 27, Polestar published a series of “sustainability upgrades” for its Polestar 2 offering and made it clear that leather upholstery is one of the options.
Specifically, it says customers can choose zinc-coloured, ventilated nappa leather in a “broken chevron” design. But this will cost customers in Germany €4,500 extra, with their counterparts in the UK paying £4,000 more than for the standard interior.
Polestar said it wanted to make available to customers “improved nappa leather upholstery with greater sustainability credentials”. Its head of sustainability, Fredrika Klarén explained: “We require that all leather used in Polestar products must live up to the strictest standards on animal welfare and the Five Freedoms, along with being fully traceable and chrome-free.”
She added that Polestar had found “a new leather supplier that meets our requirements”, and named it as Bridge of Weir Leather, part of Scottish Leather Group.
